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First Edition: July 13, 2011

Today's headlines detail the next moves in the ongoing budget discussion, including a "last-choice option" proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and reports about how the health industry is lining up against possible cuts.

13 Jul 2011

AIDS activists and advocates to protest against Gilead's drug pricing at San Francisco federal building

A small group of committed AIDS activists and advocates spearheaded by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will protest the Bay Area's own Gilead Sciences over its pricing and policies on its HIV/AIDS medications.

13 Jul 2011

Kinexus introduces new KiNET-Antibody Microarray website

Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, a world-leader in molecular intelligence research, announced a major expansion in its KiNET DataBank for the study of cell communication systems with the launch of the KiNET-Antibody Microarray website.

13 Jul 2011

IAS, NIDA announce recipients of third annual joint research fellowships

The International AIDS Society (IAS) and the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) today announced the recipients of their third annual joint research fellowships. Recipients of the prestigious awards will receive US$75,000 each to advance scientific understanding of the linkages between drug use and HIV while fostering multinational research.

13 Jul 2011

NIH grants $70M over five years to help search for HIV cure

NIH announced on Monday it will provide $70 million over five years to three collaborations searching for an HIV/AIDS cure, making it "the largest single investment yet … into finding a way to rid the virus from the body or at least reduce levels to the point that infected people can stop taking anti-HIV drugs - which many researchers until recently viewed as a hopeless quest," ScienceInsider reports.

13 Jul 2011

AHF applauds Gilead for licensing AIDS drugs to Medicines Patent Pool

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today lauded Gilead Sciences for being the first major AIDS drug company to share some drug patents with a new international Medicines Patent Pool, a move that will help ensure access to newer AIDS treatments in developing countries.

13 Jul 2011

Study about impact of drug shortages on U.S. health systems

Increasing drug shortages are impacting patient care and increasing costs to the nation's health system, according to a new study released today by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

13 Jul 2011

Gilead becomes first company to license drugs to Medicines Patent Pool

"In the first agreement between a pharmaceutical company and the new international Medicines Patent Pool, Gilead Sciences announced Tuesday that it would license four of its AIDS and hepatitis B drugs to the pool," the New York Times reports.

13 Jul 2011

New technique may help scientists understand how neuronal circuits work

Machine logic is based on human logic. But although a computer processor can be dissembled and dissected in logical steps, the same is not true for the way our brains process information, says Mark Shein of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering.

13 Jul 2011

Regular exercise may help prevent panic and related disorders

Regular exercise may be a useful strategy for helping prevent the development of panic and related disorders, a new study suggests.

13 Jul 2011

Indirubin might help treat glioblastoma

The active ingredient in a traditional Chinese herbal remedy might help treat deadly brain tumors, according to a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

13 Jul 2011

U.S. hospitals report severe drug shortages: Survey

A survey called “Impact of Drug Shortages on U.S. Health Systems” released this Tuesday showed that a vast majority of U.S. hospitals have restricted the use of life-saving chemotherapy drugs and other critical-care medications in the past six months to cope with unprecedented shortages.

13 Jul 2011

New animal model for studying development of testicular germ cell tumors

A team of researchers from Spain and Switzerland have developed a new model for studying the development of testicular germ cell tumors by transplanting embryonic stem cells into the seminiferous tubules in mouse models, resulting in the development of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) that mimic the early stages of TGCT development.

12 Jul 2011

New insights into how cancer cells can maintain resistance to chemotherapy

Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have conducted a study which reveals new insights into how cancer cells can maintain a resistance to chemotherapy resulting in cancer relapse.

12 Jul 2011

UNC receives $32 million federal grant to eradicate HIV infection

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been awarded a $32 million, five-year federal grant to develop ways to cure people with HIV by purging the virus hiding in the immune systems of patients taking antiretroviral therapy.

12 Jul 2011

New research strategy for eradicating HIV from the body

An international team led by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco and the nonprofit Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Port St. Lucie, Fla., has received a major grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a strategy to eradicate HIV from the body.

12 Jul 2011

Two papers highlight therapeutic potential of human Sertoli cells

Two papers published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation, now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/, highlight the therapeutic potential of human Sertoli cells that are present in the testes and are also called "nurse" or "mother" cells because they nurture the developing sperm cells.

12 Jul 2011

Gilead announces expansion of global access program for HIV medications

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today an expansion of its global access program in an effort to provide accelerated access to Gilead medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

12 Jul 2011

Poisonous shrub extract may act as natural painkiller

An extract of the poisonous shrub Jatropha curcas acts as a strong painkiller and may have a mode of action different from conventional analgesics, such as morphine and other pharmaceuticals.

12 Jul 2011

Study may help explain why antipsychotic drugs can promote overeating, weight gain

Research to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, may explain why some antipsychotic drugs can promote overeating, weight gain, and insulin resistance.

12 Jul 2011